Welcome Back
by spacejelly
Summary: A little over ten years after the events of Ys 8, Adol gets ready for something that could change everything.


He had been travelling for so long. Many years had past since his first great adventure. He was older now, a healthy thirty-two years old, but his hair was still a fiery red, one that hasn't faded yet, just like his taste for adventure. But something had changed. Before that was only chaos and coincidence, now there was purpose and drive. He had a mission.

The past ten years of exploring the world and discovering ancient secrets have been motivated by something greater than the simple thrill of it all. Of course he did what he always had been doing by helping the people he met along the way, always without any hesitation. But something else was always there, in the back of his mind.

He had not been able to sleep properly for weeks now. He kept wondering if what he was about to attempt was even possible. After all this time amassing knowledge about everything magical, divine, and sacred, he still worried. What if a missing piece of the puzzle was to be found deep within the unknown parts of Afroca, or somewhere humans have not even set foot yet? But he could not spend too much time thinking about that.

After all ten years is a long time to spend mourning. Most people move on. They have to, to keep on living. But he could not. Every moment alone with his thoughts was a punishment. The loneliness was overbearing at times. It quieted when he was around friends, The long-time ones just like the temporary ones, but it was still there.

Yet he managed to turn that feeling, that pit of ever growing despair in his stomach into a source of determination. He had a mission, and he would do everything in his power to accomplish it.

This made him happen upon many new adventures of course, all over the world, from Greek to Xandria, through most of Ispani, and back to Garman. He would investigate all manners of folk legends, learn about all sorts of traditions and rituals, discover many magical artefacts from a bygone era.

He studied magic from every corner of the Earth, becoming as much a scholar as he was an adventurer and a swordsman.

Not even his closest friends, not even Dogi, knew about what he was about to attempt. He couldn't bear the shame of someone knowing he failed, so he kept it a secret, one that he would finally reveal once he succeeded. If he succeeded.

The day was finally approaching. The planets were about to align such a way that would generate enough spiritual energy to power the ritual he devised across the years.

For it to work he needed to be at the most potent place at the most potent time, Which is why he went back for the island.

He had not been back since that day ten years ago. The trip was a much simpler affair this time around. Smooth sailing. It was still inhabited of course, you can't dispel rumors engrained so deeply in popular culture in an amount of time that short, not that anyone actually tried.

It was still as beautiful as ever, with its lush forests, beautiful sandy beaches and its towering mountain. It was just the way he remembered it. He had dreamt about this place so many times.

He set up camp near where the Great Tree used to be, in another life. He had brought with him all matters of magical artefacts he gathered across the years that would help him channel the amount of energy he would need to perform the ritual. He was probably about to destroy a lot of precious, unique, and probably sacred objects. He did not care in the slightest.

The most important of them was of course Mistilteinn, the sword that was forged on this island. He never separated from it. In a way it was his most precious possession. He quickly figured it would be the key to accomplishing what he set out to do. So he kept it close all these years, even after it lost all its powers.

He had spent the last couple days preparing, learning the incantations by heart, making sure everything was in the right place.

The day was here.

He knew she was watching. She probably had been all these years. Dana. He was certain she did not forget just as he did not either. Did she already know if it was going to work? could she not? Would she warn him if he were about to make a major mistake?

He set up the artefacts in a pentagram, pointing towards North. On each of the ends, an artifact relating to a different element: fire, air, water, earth, and light. The most powerful ones he could find of each of their element. They would attract the worlds spiritual powers, magnified by the planets aligning.

In the middle of the pentagram he planted Mistilteinn. This was the most important part. It might have lost its power, but it is the only item to have ever been imbued with the same type of energy as Dana's. It would hopefully create a link with her, even though she had ascended to a higher plane of existence.

Night fell. Midnight was upon him.

He recited the magical words he had spent years fashioning into a spell that could call forth a god. Once the incantation was over, he pulled out a knife from its sheath and cut his left palm. The blood of a human, to anchor a spirit in this realm.

Blood dripped from his hand and unto the soil.

Nothing.

Then, suddenly, he could feel his hair raise on his body. A great amount of energy was passing through. A bolt of lighting struck the sword, accompanied by roaring thunder, which left him deaf for a few second.

A bright Light came out of Mistilteinn. It enveloped him, leaving him unable to see anything other than the purest of whites.

Then, in the aether he was in, she appeared, just as she left him, wearing a white dress. She was facing him. They both reached out to each other, their hands slightly touching. Then the light disappeared.

In the middle of the pentagram, in place of the sword, a blue haired girl in a white dress. Dana.

She lift up her head and opened her eyes.

Adol looked at her and smiled.

"Welcome Back."


End file.
